Speaker 1: Welcome to a special episode of Pod Meets World. This
Speaker 1: episode is brought to you by twenty three and Me,
Speaker 1: which you guys have heard us now over almost an
Speaker 1: entire season of Boy Meets World, talking a lot about
Speaker 1: our background actors and how important they were to the
Speaker 1: feel of the show, to our set environment, how we
Speaker 1: were friends with a lot of them. I'm gonna start
Speaker 1: right off by saying, spoiler alert, there is no Dusty
Speaker 1: in this episode. I'm really bummed about it. We have
Speaker 1: been on a on a worldwide search for Dusty Gould. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we haven't heard from seem by the way that came up.
Speaker 1: You called her see Me to her face, right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: she knew her name was see Me. Well, yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It was the people thought that it was like a
Speaker 1: behind her back sort of thing. Oh my gosh. Yeah no,
Speaker 1: I mean I think there was something a little mean
Speaker 1: about it at first, but then it just became that's
Speaker 1: the problem. We don't remember her name because we always
Speaker 1: called her see Me, and she responded to it like
Speaker 1: that's what we did. Um. It was just because it
Speaker 1: was the first week of the first season that we
Speaker 1: asked her where she was from and she said see
Speaker 1: me Valley and um. So we were just like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, you're so you're a Valley girl. We'll call
Speaker 1: you see me um, but yeah, I would love to
Speaker 1: talk to her. Yeah. And Dusty, we're still on a hunt,
Speaker 1: so you never know. But we are going to talk
Speaker 1: to a few of our other background actors today because
Speaker 1: it is very important for us and everyone to know
Speaker 1: your background, speaking of which I am coming to you today.
Speaker 1: So sleep deprived, and I guess it's really come to
Speaker 1: my attention through my twenty three and me results that
Speaker 1: I am less likely to be a deep sleeper, which
Speaker 1: are you? Isn't that what it said? Yes, I think
Speaker 1: I think we're can say this from your jeans. Isn't
Speaker 1: it cool? By the way, another thing that I think
Speaker 1: is amazing is that it tells me I am most
Speaker 1: I am more likely to be photo sensitive, which means
Speaker 1: I might sneeze when looking at the sun. And when
Speaker 1: I tell you, I have never once walked into the
Speaker 1: sun and not sneezed the exact same way. But I
Speaker 1: didn't see that. Where did this say that? Of your
Speaker 1: so much to read? I don't like like I haven't
Speaker 1: explored all all the ins and out, and that's really
Speaker 1: That's the really cool thing is that there are so
Speaker 1: many different reports and some of them are just really fun,
Speaker 1: like finding out you're more likely to be photo sensitive.
Speaker 1: I'm also more likely to drink more caffeine than most,
Speaker 1: and that checks right off right? Would you probably have
Speaker 1: that too. I'm less likely to drink caffeine than most,
Speaker 1: and I drink no caffeine. I have no caffeine in
Speaker 1: my life whatsoever. And it says I'm less like and
Speaker 1: I am not likely to be an especially deep sleeper.
Speaker 1: I still don't get you. We were talking about delta
Speaker 1: ways or something. Now as I heard what you're explaining
Speaker 1: to me, Danielle, I'm a superhero, did you? Did you
Speaker 1: explain it wrong? That's what's said, uh, superhuman, you have
Speaker 1: mediclorians or whatever it is, and that you're a Jedi. Yes,
Speaker 1: first of all, let's not that's that's it's in my
Speaker 1: jeans though, that apparently due to my sleep patterns. That's
Speaker 1: because of the underwear. That's because of the underwear. That too,
Speaker 1: The underwear just makes me lucky twenty three and me
Speaker 1: is telling me I'm a weak hold on. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about ancestry. Just really quick. Did you guys learn anything
Speaker 1: new or totally? So? What was what was the story
Speaker 1: that your family told you and the reality of your Well,
Speaker 1: it's not that my family told me something that was
Speaker 1: just we just heard that we were Dutch and Irish
Speaker 1: in German primarily. Um, that's what I knew. And it
Speaker 1: come came out that I am almost Jewish. Nice, I
Speaker 1: am nine ash can Nazi Jewish. Wow, And you didn't
Speaker 1: know that, no idea whatsoever. And of course then when
Speaker 1: I said that to my my parents, my dad was like, well,
Speaker 1: of course my great grandfather was do or something where
Speaker 1: we were like, well, why did anybody tell about that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know, so that was completely I'm I'm I'm nine
Speaker 1: point eight percent European and it's mostly northwestern European, so
Speaker 1: British and Irish. What we thought, Um, lots of Irish,
Speaker 1: lots of lots of British, but eighteen point seven percent
Speaker 1: as Ashkenazi Jewish. So no no idea, no idea whatsoever.
Speaker 1: I was shocked. Writer. Did you learn anything in yours about,
Speaker 1: specifically about health, anything you're more likely to have or
Speaker 1: not have? Oh? Yeah, it nailed me in three categories.
Speaker 1: It said I am mostly too. I am most likely
Speaker 1: to have restless legs restless leg syndrome, which I've had
Speaker 1: all of my life and just had to deal with,
Speaker 1: more likely for increased anxiety check and severe acne, which
Speaker 1: you guys can remember from when I was on I
Speaker 1: had severe acne. Yeah, and so did my dad. I
Speaker 1: remember when I when you know, when I started breaking
Speaker 1: out during boy me's work, cause I got it a
Speaker 1: little bit later. I got it more like at fifteen
Speaker 1: fourteen fifteen, um, when I had the really bad acne.
Speaker 1: So we haven't gotten to it on the show, but
Speaker 1: well we'll start to be able to see the the
Speaker 1: amount of makeup. They had a cake on my face.
Speaker 1: It was the worst, the worst. But yeah, knowing this
Speaker 1: then about your your d n A makeup now that like,
Speaker 1: is there something now you're going to change about your life?
Speaker 1: Will you talk to your doctor about restless leg syndrome?
Speaker 1: Is there anything or do you take anything for anxiety?
Speaker 1: Will you start? Yeah? Well no, the anxiety thing is
Speaker 1: really interesting because, um, I've never really thought of myself
Speaker 1: as as an anxious person. Um, Like, especially when I
Speaker 1: was a kid, I was not an anxious kid. Um,
Speaker 1: But I do I have noticed lately that like I
Speaker 1: need to exercise, Um, it's hugely important anxiety. And what
Speaker 1: I realized is like, if I don't like the only
Speaker 1: the way I manage anxiety, and I put that in
Speaker 1: air quotes would be like drink alcohol and that's the
Speaker 1: worst thing you can do to manage anxiety. Um. You know.
Speaker 1: And especially like during the pandemic, there were there's these
Speaker 1: these periods where like there would be you know, you're
Speaker 1: not working, you're not taking your kids to school, everybody's
Speaker 1: sitting at home. It would be like, well, why is
Speaker 1: the day over? Why is it? You know, how do
Speaker 1: we know the day is over? We have a glass
Speaker 1: of wine and then you know, and we just got
Speaker 1: into the habit of like, oh, that's just it's five
Speaker 1: o'clock time to drink. Um. So I definitely think that
Speaker 1: like being able to recognize that there's in a genetic
Speaker 1: component to like the feelings I have of anxiety and
Speaker 1: that it might just be part of my body makes
Speaker 1: me remember to just move my body to deal with
Speaker 1: it in terms of my body, as opposed to thinking like, oh,
Speaker 1: there's something wrong, I need to like, uh, change you
Speaker 1: know the way I think, or no, it's just part
Speaker 1: of my body. Is that I get these feelings that
Speaker 1: other people might not have, you know that that and
Speaker 1: I don't need to associate it with like necessarily things
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I've done wrong, or you know, I just
Speaker 1: don't want to. I just don't. I Basically it allows
Speaker 1: me to contextualize my anxiety and recognize it as like
Speaker 1: it mostly physical thing, like something that is like you know,
Speaker 1: I'm born with and that I just have to contend
Speaker 1: with and it's and you know, I just have to
Speaker 1: find healthy ways to contend with it. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know that I'm anxiety boy and I was hit
Speaker 1: with this very bad during during boy Me thrilled like
Speaker 1: very bag during Boyman. So then you'll see during the episodes,
Speaker 1: you know, the seasons where I come back and I'm
Speaker 1: really heavy, and it's because I was medicated to even record.
Speaker 1: And the things I always tell people now that I've
Speaker 1: been dealing with it for so long is the three
Speaker 1: most important things for me that help more than anything
Speaker 1: are talking about it, diet and exercise, and getting off
Speaker 1: of social media. And the first two people are like,
Speaker 1: I can easily do that, and then it's like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to get off social media. I need
Speaker 1: it for work. What what do you do? I work
Speaker 1: at a bank. Okay, you don't need your social media,
Speaker 1: you're just addicted to it. But it's it's those three
Speaker 1: things where moving your body exactly what you're saying is
Speaker 1: just so unbelievably important. And it is it's all genetic.
Speaker 1: I mean, I found out other people in my family
Speaker 1: down the line. They might not have called it that
Speaker 1: at the time. They might have said, you know, in
Speaker 1: the fifties they had spells or whatever, because they didn't
Speaker 1: know how to how to diagnose it. But that's all
Speaker 1: that it was was it is. It's genetic anxiety and
Speaker 1: and but that's one of the things about the twenty
Speaker 1: three and me that was so amazing is those little markers.
Speaker 1: For instance, that what it says when I looked at
Speaker 1: the thing, your average wake up time, judging by your genetics,
Speaker 1: is seven am. And that's like almost exactly every morning
Speaker 1: when I roll out of bed, whoa literally literally almost
Speaker 1: exactly every morning, Susan gets up before me because she's
Speaker 1: got early clients. I doze in bed and by a
Speaker 1: out seven forty to seven fifty, I'm up and out
Speaker 1: and when. So when this thing comes out and it
Speaker 1: says it's seven am, I'm going You've got to be
Speaker 1: kidding me. How is that even possible? So, yeah, some
Speaker 1: of these things are some of them, I gotta say.
Speaker 1: It says that I'm not predisposed to being afraid of heights,
Speaker 1: and I'm hugely afraid of heights, but that could also
Speaker 1: be the anxiety part. But there are certain things that this,
Speaker 1: you know, the muscle. Here's the other thing where it
Speaker 1: made me feel like, yes, I am in fact magic.
Speaker 1: Um is it says my muscle composition is common in
Speaker 1: elite power athletes with mine, man, thank you, I'm a stallion.
Speaker 1: Yeah me too, me too. I'm also though, uh, this
Speaker 1: is not such a positive thing. I am also more
Speaker 1: likely to have to develop type two diabetes. And as
Speaker 1: you guys know, I love my sweets, I love my
Speaker 1: fast food, and so the good news is I have
Speaker 1: generally my upbringing was that of like very healthy eating
Speaker 1: and exercising, so I really try to enjoy those things
Speaker 1: like sweets and fast food in some sort of moderation.
Speaker 1: But it is really good for me to know that
Speaker 1: um as I age, because it's I think it literally
Speaker 1: says like, from the time you're forty one, which is
Speaker 1: my exact age, up until the time I'm a d
Speaker 1: I am like likely, so like really it's a worse
Speaker 1: than a chance. And so it's good for me to
Speaker 1: know those things because that's something I can stay on
Speaker 1: top of with my doctor. Now, Like, let me get
Speaker 1: regular screenings, let me stay on top of that, let
Speaker 1: me make sure I'm watching my diet, and then I'm exercising,
Speaker 1: because maintaining a healthy weight is one way to help
Speaker 1: prevent that from happening. So I mean, I'm actually really
Speaker 1: excited that I know that because now, like the last
Speaker 1: time writer and I were at your house for a party,
Speaker 1: there was literally, and I'm using that word correctly, a
Speaker 1: board that had donuts hanging all off of it, and
Speaker 1: the second you'd grab it don't nut, it would reappear
Speaker 1: as if by magic. So I do love doughnuts, doughnut fan.
Speaker 1: That's just called Sundays around here, diner food. But you're
Speaker 1: a big diner food fans. At least it's Sundays and
Speaker 1: not every day. Yeah, it's just Sundays. Yeah, No, I
Speaker 1: I do. I love salty, I love sweet, I love
Speaker 1: fried um I just like that kind of food, so
Speaker 1: first salty or sweet. That that was the other thing
Speaker 1: the app told me is that is that I prefer
Speaker 1: salty over sweet, which is absolutely correct, so it does.
Speaker 1: And it told me this is where the history kind
Speaker 1: of buffing me loves. It told me that I have
Speaker 1: that I have more Neanderthal DNA than most of the
Speaker 1: other people. Ye. Yes, yes, we're elite power athlete Neanderthal's magic.
Speaker 1: This is the coolest app in the world. I'm waiting
Speaker 1: for my laser vision which will come. Um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: this is I was. It's so amazed a by how
Speaker 1: detail that gets. I do want to show you guys
Speaker 1: my ancestry makeup because, um, look at how almost exactly
Speaker 1: fifty percent of one thing I am. Wow you are
Speaker 1: Yeah that is my uh that is my um my
Speaker 1: Maltese side, that is my Southern European side. Wow, look
Speaker 1: at you. Yeah, that's me right there. So I'm I'm
Speaker 1: kind of all over the place. Yeah, I am forty
Speaker 1: nine point five percent Southern European and fifty point five
Speaker 1: percent Northwestern European. That's what I'm north. I'm sixty two
Speaker 1: percent Northwestern European, which is which is interesting, but I'm
Speaker 1: also it's like eight percent Italian. I had no idea
Speaker 1: there's Italian anywhere in my family line, like no idea
Speaker 1: whatsoever that we're partially Italian. So it's really really cool
Speaker 1: kind of getting these breakdowns. But the other things where
Speaker 1: it's just talking about like whether you're lacto, some tallerant
Speaker 1: or not, you're making your wake up time, whether you
Speaker 1: like cilantro, like all those kind of things, the breakdown
Speaker 1: is is really neat. I know, it is really fun. Well,
Speaker 1: continuing to get to know our background, let us bring
Speaker 1: in our very first background guest. So to give you
Speaker 1: a little background about background actors. The actor the background
Speaker 1: actor definition is someone who performs in a non speaking role,
Speaker 1: usually in the background of a scene. They helped make movies,
Speaker 1: TV shows, and other productions look and feel more authentic
Speaker 1: and so hospitals, concert city streets would be completely empty
Speaker 1: if not for hiring background actors. Yes, school cafeterias, classrooms.
Speaker 1: So let us welcome our first background actor, Geenie Torres.
Speaker 1: It's so good to see your faces again. I know
Speaker 1: this is so fun. How did you become a background
Speaker 1: act and how old were you? I was I think
Speaker 1: it was eighteen, and it was my first year of
Speaker 1: community college and I'm still trying to figure out what
Speaker 1: to do. I was creative, UM, I kind of liked filmmaking,
Speaker 1: editing things like that. Um, maybe I wanted to be
Speaker 1: an actor, but I felt a little shy to be
Speaker 1: on stage. So I remember talking to my dad and
Speaker 1: he had said, hey, why don't you sign up to
Speaker 1: be a background actor. You know, they can be on set,
Speaker 1: you can see everything that they do. And I thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's a good idea. So I went down to the
Speaker 1: casting agency, you know, paid the will fee that you pay,
Speaker 1: take a picture, get all your information, sign up, and
Speaker 1: that's how I started. And so it's I don't know
Speaker 1: if you guys want me to tell you about how
Speaker 1: that whole process goes and you already know about it, okay, okay.
Speaker 1: So the way they did, at least back in the
Speaker 1: nineties was that you called a hotline and you listen
Speaker 1: for something that maybe you fit. So for me and
Speaker 1: I swear, it's like the only time we're looking young,
Speaker 1: like really paid off. I've always um looked for eighteen
Speaker 1: to look younger shows, which, of course Boy Meets World
Speaker 1: was one of those shows, and so you listen to recording.
Speaker 1: If you felt like you fit that, you know, that
Speaker 1: type of those specs that they're looking for, you called
Speaker 1: the number and then you gave them your social Security number. Everything. Yeah,
Speaker 1: apparently like there was no big dam back then, So
Speaker 1: you gave them your social Security number. That's actually how
Speaker 1: how they had you filed. And they looked you up,
Speaker 1: and I thought, yeah, you fit good, You're working tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Here's your call time, bring you know, three sets of clothes.
Speaker 1: That's where you're going. And that's it. And then described
Speaker 1: my stuff pop in the car next morning and I'm
Speaker 1: on my way. That's to me. I'm sorry, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at a great picture of the two of us together
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, I am. I'm looking at an awesome
Speaker 1: picture of the two of us right now. It's on
Speaker 1: on set. That's so cool. That is where were you living,
Speaker 1: What was the what was the commute like then from
Speaker 1: where you were living to where we were shooting. So
Speaker 1: I would never do this commute nowadays. But I was
Speaker 1: in South Orange County. I was down in mission game
Speaker 1: and I remember called times being about seven thirty for
Speaker 1: us in the morning in the morning, and I would
Speaker 1: leave my house at six and that was fine, Like
Speaker 1: I could get to the ktl A studios by six Wow,
Speaker 1: and that was okay. Back then it is not okay.
Speaker 1: Were you? Were you a mission Vie here? Were you
Speaker 1: a Diablo? I wasn't. I was okay. My wife was
Speaker 1: a Diablo. I won't tell you really rivals exactly. Oh
Speaker 1: that's so funny. So what other shows were you a
Speaker 1: background actor on? UM? I got booked on Nino two
Speaker 1: and oh, let's see Party of five step by Step
Speaker 1: with Christine Laken. Yes, there's a few those. I don't
Speaker 1: know why those seemed to like stick out. UM. A
Speaker 1: few movies. Babylon five that was really random but cool.
Speaker 1: That was one of the coolest because you actually got
Speaker 1: as an extra. You still got to have makeup done
Speaker 1: and I got to look like an alien and it
Speaker 1: was so not me but it was great. It was
Speaker 1: so much fun. That's fun. So okay. So you were
Speaker 1: on season three and four of Boy Meets World Walk
Speaker 1: people through? Then? What would happen? So your call time
Speaker 1: seven thirty am. What happens when you arrived to set?
Speaker 1: What's the process? Like the arrived a set and then
Speaker 1: the A d would pass out scripts to everyone and
Speaker 1: you'd actually go through we probably spend like a good
Speaker 1: hour maybe, and we'd go through the entire script and
Speaker 1: she would say something like, Okay, Jeanie, on this line,
Speaker 1: on writer's line, you're gonna go from the top of
Speaker 1: the stairs to locker two, you know, and have a
Speaker 1: conversation with somebody and then you know, let's say, Daniel
Speaker 1: in your line, I was to exit and and leave,
Speaker 1: you know, walk off set or whatever. So everyone had, um,
Speaker 1: you know, there's blocking, different blocking with different crossings. I
Speaker 1: think it's amazing. I don't know who put it together,
Speaker 1: because it seems like that would take a long time
Speaker 1: to figure out at least twenty extras and where they
Speaker 1: were going and how they're not going to cross in
Speaker 1: front of you, and it just it's like I know,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's a dance exactly. And so this
Speaker 1: would have been Deed, right, would have been Yes, So
Speaker 1: she was our second second stage manager, and so she
Speaker 1: would have been in charge of So Yeah, I wonder
Speaker 1: if Deed mapped out all of those moves. I mean,
Speaker 1: it must we have to have dd on, Yeah, we will,
Speaker 1: we should. Yeah, And she was so good at it
Speaker 1: like she was. She's just on and she's so friendly.
Speaker 1: That was one of the things that I'm sure was
Speaker 1: like a really, you know, I'm sure and I don't
Speaker 1: want to put words in your mouth. Was was every
Speaker 1: a D worked with on sets like wonderful and fun
Speaker 1: to be around? Or were there some that were better
Speaker 1: than others? She was the best. I will say she
Speaker 1: was the best, and you know, maybe because I got
Speaker 1: the opportunity to come back and do more shows, but
Speaker 1: she was amazing and Mike was Mike was great too.
Speaker 1: I just I think everyone sometimes is in work mode
Speaker 1: and as you guys know, you're pressed for time. You've
Speaker 1: gotta get lines done. You know, you just gotta really
Speaker 1: nail it. And I think maybe some were just like whatever,
Speaker 1: do this, But with her, she was I don't know,
Speaker 1: she was on it. She was on it, but still
Speaker 1: like awesome and sweet. I have a question, just because
Speaker 1: I'm curious behind you on your your your shelf back there,
Speaker 1: does that say Transformers or am I wrong? You are correct?
Speaker 1: Thank you? And it's a g I Joe. Is a
Speaker 1: g I Joe? Next to that that is g I Joe.
Speaker 1: We are absolutely friends. Which Transformers is it? Can I
Speaker 1: ask from here, is not robot robots in disguise? Is it? No,
Speaker 1: it's well, it's well, the game is information protocol. It's
Speaker 1: I can't I can't tell America. Sorry, I think it's
Speaker 1: Bumblebee on the cover. They're sorry. I'm just that's actually
Speaker 1: my career job, So that is what. I'm a creative
Speaker 1: to actor for a boarding game company called Renegade Game Studios,
Speaker 1: and I am in charge of the Hasbro Yes, I
Speaker 1: worked for Hasbro for years, So that's I'm sorry. I
Speaker 1: know I know my Transformer. I know my nerves, so
Speaker 1: I know my Sorry. Yeah, I Joe my Transformers in
Speaker 1: the background. I'm gonna call that out every time. I
Speaker 1: love that. Yeah, So I want to know. Background actors
Speaker 1: are not allowed to talk, but you have to make
Speaker 1: it look like you're talking. Did you have any tricks
Speaker 1: to making it look like you were talking but staying
Speaker 1: totally silent? Um. No, there were no tricks and there
Speaker 1: were no tricks. But I will say that becoming a
Speaker 1: regular right on the show and working with other regular extras,
Speaker 1: there were times it was almost like we're trying to
Speaker 1: make each other laugh without really blowing it. Right, So
Speaker 1: you're gonna have conversations saying ridiculous things to each other
Speaker 1: at the lockers, saying things that just maybe are Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're reading lips. Yeah, you're saying things that you could
Speaker 1: go back through the episodes and read your lips. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you might be saying inappropriate Oh my god. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1: Did you become friends with all the other actras? Mean,
Speaker 1: did you hang out offset because you were all kind
Speaker 1: of regulars there. We did sometimes. Yeah, I went out
Speaker 1: a lot with Wendy Smith. Um. And then there's a
Speaker 1: few of them that I've become Facebook friends with and
Speaker 1: we just keep in touch and we talked about the
Speaker 1: old days of Boy Meets World in certain episodes. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And any episodes stick out in your head that you did, Yes,
Speaker 1: and it's actually one with you well it's um, it's
Speaker 1: with the guitarist, oh um Lisha Haley. Yes, yeah, Shallow
Speaker 1: Boy Boy. Yes, that was a fun episode. That was
Speaker 1: That was a fun episode. She was amazing. I really
Speaker 1: hope we get to have her on the show because
Speaker 1: she was absolutely incredible. That was a fun episode to do.
Speaker 1: Were you in the were you in the chubby scene
Speaker 1: where she was singing that's so yeah? Oh yeah, you
Speaker 1: can see me. I'm holding a French fry and I
Speaker 1: I just go right into disgust and she starts singing
Speaker 1: and I throw the French fry down and I get
Speaker 1: up and walk away out of Chubbies. That's fun action. Oh,
Speaker 1: I can't wait to go back and watch that. You laugh,
Speaker 1: It's cool. So I think the most pressing question we
Speaker 1: have were we nice? Yes? But like but professional? Right?
Speaker 1: So I think as an extra, you feel like it's
Speaker 1: like a privilege to be on set, and you just
Speaker 1: you don't wanna You don't want to mess that up.
Speaker 1: So you know I would. I would see you guys,
Speaker 1: And I have no idea if you if you remember
Speaker 1: this face are not? Are not? But I just I
Speaker 1: don't know. I would just like smile. But I don't
Speaker 1: think I ever tried to start up conversations unless it
Speaker 1: was like the last show of the season and I
Speaker 1: felt like, Okay, it's cool. Everyone's just happy and excited
Speaker 1: and celebrating and things like that. But um, I think
Speaker 1: you guys probably all were approachable. I just didn't want to.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. I didn't want to do anything to have
Speaker 1: me not back on the set. Well, it's also it's
Speaker 1: because I think about it now, like I just I
Speaker 1: just wrapped a movie I was directing, and it's um,
Speaker 1: sets are fun environments, or they can be fun environments,
Speaker 1: and actors like to talk and kids like to talk.
Speaker 1: And yet if you think about what it would be
Speaker 1: like to have twelve kids in a classroom set, we're
Speaker 1: also work needs to get done. If if they were
Speaker 1: allowed to just talk and joke and laugh, it would
Speaker 1: be completely out of control. So it's a it's um,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of like you talk as much
Speaker 1: as you can before somebody says, all right, keep it down,
Speaker 1: you know, no personal conversations. We need to get work done.
Speaker 1: And so it was it was always like a tough
Speaker 1: balance between wanting to be like, so what's your name
Speaker 1: and where are you from and what do you like
Speaker 1: to do without actually then being in trouble because there's
Speaker 1: no time for that. Yeah. I think I really don't
Speaker 1: actually don't remember you guys. Havn't my conversation right before
Speaker 1: your lance? Yeah? I think you just all seemed very focused,
Speaker 1: especially you writer. You were like, it just seemed like
Speaker 1: you were so on it, and I was he was,
Speaker 1: He was, Yeah, so do you tell anybody now about
Speaker 1: your history as a background actor. Yeah, I do sometimes. Um,
Speaker 1: it's been what like twenties for a lot of beers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so let's just say twenty a lot, Yes, twenty a lot. Uh.
Speaker 1: If I have made new friends, like you know my kids,
Speaker 1: you know, you start making new friends with your kids,
Speaker 1: you know, they're their friends and parents and things like that.
Speaker 1: And it let's say I have a few drinks and
Speaker 1: we're watching or whatever, flipping through in Disney Plus and
Speaker 1: the I'm like, oh, hey, you should you should put
Speaker 1: a Womans rolled for a second, you know, so like
Speaker 1: to show you something you know, I'll find it episode
Speaker 1: And I'm like, that's so fun, like me, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's kind of a fun conversation. Do you know how
Speaker 1: many episodes you're actually in that you that you can
Speaker 1: see yourself and have added it up. I haven't. It's
Speaker 1: maybe close to fifteen, but it's over the course of
Speaker 1: two seasons or yeah. Yeah. I mean obviously there were
Speaker 1: some shows where you didn't have the school scenes, right
Speaker 1: if there was a lot of shooting, and some days
Speaker 1: it was it was just a one one day call
Speaker 1: and one scene and that was it was Dusty there
Speaker 1: with you while you were there. Dusty Gould red hair,
Speaker 1: one of the one of the background actors. He was
Speaker 1: one of the Yeah, he was in the classroom with
Speaker 1: in the class probably and I realized that most of
Speaker 1: the kids in the classroom were miners. Yeah, I wanted
Speaker 1: to keep them young in the classroom, so I think
Speaker 1: they kind of had to separated because you know, they
Speaker 1: had to go do school. And yeah, we're just done
Speaker 1: a sitting sitting on our chairs and an empty stage waiting, waiting,
Speaker 1: so much downtime on us it yeah, yeah, thank you
Speaker 1: for sending us these amazing pictures. Have this great picture.
Speaker 1: We will post them on our social media so that
Speaker 1: you guys get to see exactly who she is and
Speaker 1: then you can spot her when we get to her
Speaker 1: her episodes and seasons three and four. It was really
Speaker 1: great to catch up with you, Genie. I totally remember
Speaker 1: your face. You haven't changed at all. Thank you, guys,
Speaker 1: you're all the same to me too. It's funny, it's awesome.
Speaker 1: It's really nice to reconnect with you. Thank you for
Speaker 1: all of the Yeah, thanks for coming on our show,
Speaker 1: and thank you for all the work you did for
Speaker 1: us all those twenty plus years ago. Thank you, Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love your podcast. Been listening. I
Speaker 1: think it's really cool. I love everyone's perspective and and
Speaker 1: you know what you went through. I think it's really
Speaker 1: neat because I was just a small part of it,
Speaker 1: and it really it's I don't know, you know, you
Speaker 1: always try and guess and think how everyone else is thinking,
Speaker 1: or what it is their challenge is, or maybe they
Speaker 1: don't have challenges and only I have challenges. Great, it
Speaker 1: was really great. Thank you so much. It's great to
Speaker 1: see you. All right, all right, guys. Our next guest
Speaker 1: was a background actor on Boy Meets Worlds in seasons
Speaker 1: two through four, and then he came back in season
Speaker 1: six just to watch a taping and was invited back
Speaker 1: to be an extra in that episode. That's awesome. That's awesome,
Speaker 1: so cool. Um, so let's please welcome. I think I
Speaker 1: beleeve Justin. If I'm saying your name wrong, Justin ur Mayo.
Speaker 1: That's absolutely perfect, yes, all right, Justin welcome. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is insane. Right off the bat. I absolutely remember Justin,
Speaker 1: absolutely do. The second I saw your picture, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely no, yeah, I knew exactly
Speaker 1: you were right away. You did a whole bunch of episodes,
Speaker 1: and I completely remember you. Yeah, that's awesome. Thanks. Well,
Speaker 1: of course I think I did like fifty maybe you
Speaker 1: did a whole lot of episodes. You were one of
Speaker 1: the regulars there for most of the time, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I completely remember Justin. Wait, so you did maybe fifty
Speaker 1: episodes just within seasons two, three, and four. So I
Speaker 1: just I just watched um. So the first episode I
Speaker 1: did was season two episode eight, banned on the run,
Speaker 1: and then I did the rest of that season, did
Speaker 1: season three, season four, and then I missed the show
Speaker 1: so much like I went to an audience taping of
Speaker 1: it when you moved to Radford. I watched the show.
Speaker 1: Then I snuck over to the bathroom, which was in
Speaker 1: a sound stage next door. I hid in the bathroom
Speaker 1: for half an hour, waited for the audience to leave
Speaker 1: and everybody get escorted out. Then I walked back onto
Speaker 1: the sound stage and I saw Steve in Deed and
Speaker 1: they saw me, and they jumped up and they said,
Speaker 1: oh my god, Justin, what are you doing here? And
Speaker 1: I said, I came to see the show. And they said,
Speaker 1: you have to come back and do an episode, and
Speaker 1: I said that please, that would be honest. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: she asked. So Steve Hayfer and d D to Stephano.
Speaker 1: We talked about them a little bit our stage. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you remember that justin. Yes, you guys had so
Speaker 1: many I don't really remember the catch right, but you
Speaker 1: guys had so many in jokes and catch phrases. And
Speaker 1: you guys are always having such an awesome time. It's
Speaker 1: so funny. One of the pictures that we have of
Speaker 1: you justin you are in the scene with Lesha Haley,
Speaker 1: which is exactly the same scene we were just talking
Speaker 1: about with Genie. There's another background actor we have from
Speaker 1: that set that that Lesha Haley episode Shallow Boy was
Speaker 1: really special. I remember that I still had my script
Speaker 1: somewhere in the garage. I think it's because everybody has
Speaker 1: to react to her playing the song. I think that
Speaker 1: was why it was like in Chubbies, She's she does.
Speaker 1: It's like the whole point of the scene is that
Speaker 1: if she's making a scene right, and everybody has to
Speaker 1: sort of react to it, as opposed to other scenes
Speaker 1: where were just like talking the foreground and everybody's just
Speaker 1: kind of you know, having normal life. That's the Atlantis
Speaker 1: Morris set exactly. Oh you're giving some I'm looking at
Speaker 1: the picture right now, you're giving such a great like
Speaker 1: over the shoulder, look at Lesha Haley. This kind of
Speaker 1: your eyebrow race. You've got the boymes World eyebrow rais
Speaker 1: and you are sitting there looking at her like she's
Speaker 1: she's off her nut. It's great. It's absolutely phenomenal. Second
Speaker 1: I saw that picture, I was like, oh, yeah, I know,
Speaker 1: just I know exactly. They kept coming back to me
Speaker 1: over and over and said, bigger, bigger, bigger. But that's
Speaker 1: how I totally learned on that set that you have
Speaker 1: to go pretty big for people to notice things. Sometimes.
Speaker 1: It's true you would have been, especially in that episode,
Speaker 1: what would have been characterized as a featured extra, right yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it doesn't. You don't get any extra money.
Speaker 1: It's just a it's just a good you know, you're
Speaker 1: saying really well and you do a little bit which
Speaker 1: is really cool. And the longer I was there, the
Speaker 1: more they threw me cool bits to do, like at
Speaker 1: think there's one time you hit a ball off the
Speaker 1: pool table and like kids be in the foot and
Speaker 1: then one time I played they came in I think
Speaker 1: a Train of Consequences where we're you're on the train
Speaker 1: the New Year's E party. Yeah, and I played the
Speaker 1: pizza guy and Wryder comes up to me and he's like,
Speaker 1: does anybody know anything about deliveries? And then then he
Speaker 1: like rushes me out the door and then comes back
Speaker 1: and says, you know, he's gonna good thing is he's
Speaker 1: going to deliver ms Mrs g Andelle's babies and they'll
Speaker 1: be they'll be in an under thirty minutes or whatever
Speaker 1: is the joke. That's right. I forgot about that. That's
Speaker 1: so funny. And so that's why, right, Yeah, but you
Speaker 1: and not because we were around the same age. You
Speaker 1: weren't really in the classroom, right, you were? You and
Speaker 1: I were always kind of in the same scenes together. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I was too old to be one of the
Speaker 1: classroom regular kids, and they wanted to have you know,
Speaker 1: kids that were people were over eighteen to be you know,
Speaker 1: the hallway kids, Chubbies and whatever else like that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I'm fifty two now, it's still a bit
Speaker 1: older than you, but I was, yeah close, what are
Speaker 1: your old? You know, I'm I'm forty six, so yeah,
Speaker 1: we're pretty Yeah, so we're decently close. Did you have
Speaker 1: to eat in all those chubby scenes? Um? I think
Speaker 1: I ate a few times in a chubby scene. Mostly
Speaker 1: I was standing up or you know, pretending to be
Speaker 1: breaking up with a girlfriend in the background or something crazy.
Speaker 1: You know, so much fun. Do you have any particular
Speaker 1: episode or scene that you remember the most. Oh gosh,
Speaker 1: I mean I really like the Train of Consequence, so
Speaker 1: that was really funny. And I remember Charisma Carpenter was
Speaker 1: in that episode. I didn't know who that was. I
Speaker 1: think we're sitting back a training me, Will and Charisma
Speaker 1: and I had no idea who she was. And it
Speaker 1: was really fun. It was just it was different because
Speaker 1: it was a different set. So there's a really good
Speaker 1: memory there. Yeah, the the one with the monkeys was
Speaker 1: really cool because I grew up watching I mean, I
Speaker 1: was a little too young to watch the Monkeys originally,
Speaker 1: but you know, when I was a kid, there's only
Speaker 1: like three channels, so I had to watch the Monkeys.
Speaker 1: You met the Monkeys the band, I instantly went to
Speaker 1: the episode where Eric has monkeys. Yeah, okay, that was
Speaker 1: an episode where Eric has monkeys. Y's got the same
Speaker 1: monkey that that Ross has on Friends. That same Marcel
Speaker 1: monkey was on our show. I have no recollection of that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's where my head went. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're in the episode where I'm with the monkey. Um, So,
Speaker 1: I mean, can you tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: how you started in in the business. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I I absolutely obsessed with movies as a kid, and
Speaker 1: I used to cut out and use paper ads and
Speaker 1: pasted my wall with mouse because I couldn't afford posters,
Speaker 1: so I had movie ads from the Sunday calendar all
Speaker 1: over my wall. And then I just wanted to be
Speaker 1: an extra and my but I just wanted to do something.
Speaker 1: And I was, you know, just out of college, and
Speaker 1: I didn't know what to do with My sister goes
Speaker 1: on should be a next trim, like you can do that? She's, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: why don't you get the drama logue and go? She said,
Speaker 1: go do something free and if you like it, um,
Speaker 1: you're meant to do this. So I went and worked
Speaker 1: on a science fiction movie, played a cracked out space
Speaker 1: guy or something, and it worked for like fourteen hours
Speaker 1: for zero pay, and I couldn't wait to do it again.
Speaker 1: And then eventually I got an agent agency. So I
Speaker 1: was working on like nine O two A No, and
Speaker 1: like Step by Step and Party of Five and the
Speaker 1: same that that gact, same group of three age Grange. Right,
Speaker 1: if you were if you if you were eighteen or
Speaker 1: over eighteen but still look young, you could be in
Speaker 1: the background of all those shows. That's what they needed.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like seven and Clueless and so many things.
Speaker 1: That was crazy. And then it's the best to get
Speaker 1: on the show and be a regular because to be
Speaker 1: a regular like nine or two on basically doing like
Speaker 1: nine O now, don't you want know? Party of five?
Speaker 1: Boy needs World. And then I then I do a
Speaker 1: random day and I work on like show Girls for
Speaker 1: three days or something and something random. That's so cool.
Speaker 1: And I got into and I got into SAG and
Speaker 1: and d D. I said, d D, if I get
Speaker 1: into SAG, but you keep me on the show? She
Speaker 1: said yes, And do you want to hear my SAG story?
Speaker 1: I got into SAG. So I get a call one
Speaker 1: day from from like my agent agency, and they said,
Speaker 1: would you be interested in being Johnny Depps? But double?
Speaker 1: And I said um, and and my brain just said,
Speaker 1: you know, normally you might think Beckham, I'll think about that.
Speaker 1: I said, oh, yeah, absolutely. She goes, or she said,
Speaker 1: like trying, but yeah, exactly. Yeah. So well here's a
Speaker 1: bat and she goes. I said, so what does that entail? Exactly?
Speaker 1: And she said, well, okay, you go. I lived, I
Speaker 1: live in Orange County and said, okay, um, you have
Speaker 1: to go up to the studio, shows goes. I'll call
Speaker 1: you back in now and give you the details. You'll
Speaker 1: go up there, you'll talk to him for a mental
Speaker 1: interview for a moment. You'll pull down your pants and
Speaker 1: they'll take a bit through your butt a polaroid. They'll
Speaker 1: they'll give it to a producer and they'll probably give
Speaker 1: it to Johnny Depp. And and I said, so okay, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll do that, I guess, and and she hands on
Speaker 1: the phone. I go take a shower, I get ready
Speaker 1: and like, what the hell am I doing? And then
Speaker 1: she she calls back an hour late and she goes, oh,
Speaker 1: they I'm sorry, they just found somebody to do that.
Speaker 1: And I said, okay, but I'm like, oh bummer. And
Speaker 1: I was so disappointed. Man, I could have been Johnny Depps.
Speaker 1: But but and what get you back? Okay, Well, first
Speaker 1: of all, do you remember where it was from? So
Speaker 1: it's it's it's Don Juan de Marco with Johnny Depp
Speaker 1: and Marlon Branda film like that film. Yeah, good movie.
Speaker 1: So two days later I get a call and so
Speaker 1: they threw me a bone. They put me on um
Speaker 1: don one de Marco. So I get up there and
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that was the movie. And I was like, hey,
Speaker 1: that guy looks like Marlon Brando and they're like, that's
Speaker 1: because that is Marlon Brando and as though, and that's
Speaker 1: Johnny Depp on Holy Ship. So we're in working on
Speaker 1: scenes and Marlon Brando really like loves like the little guy,
Speaker 1: the low and the totem pulp person. He was like
Speaker 1: talking to me, like justin. He's like he heard my name.
Speaker 1: He said, it's getting kind of warm in here, don't
Speaker 1: you think? He said, yeah, it was getting kind of warm,
Speaker 1: And they brought an air conditioner just for him. And
Speaker 1: I got stuck in a stairwell with Marlon Brando. So
Speaker 1: I'm eating snacks and Marlon Brandon and a thin assistant
Speaker 1: director come in and they're arguing and They're like, they say, Marlin,
Speaker 1: can you work at like an extra fifteen minutes, Like
Speaker 1: I sure, I'll work an extra fifty minutes and I'll
Speaker 1: just come in fifteen minutes late tomorrow. And they kept
Speaker 1: going back and forth, and Marlin Brandon was just handling
Speaker 1: this guy really easily and really calmly. And the guy
Speaker 1: turned to me and saw me, and he got really
Speaker 1: mad and he he said, you, like you need to leave,
Speaker 1: And Marlon Brando said, oh no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: the kids stays. And I was like, holy like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell this story for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: So he gave one. So Marlon Brando gave one extra girl.
Speaker 1: She played a nurse. He goes, okay, you're you have
Speaker 1: lines because he was there doing like small talk, and
Speaker 1: they were mentioned talking about how to get into SACK.
Speaker 1: Do you know the voucher system? How you got into
Speaker 1: SAD So you needed three SAG vouchers. And for our listeners,
Speaker 1: SAG is Screen Actors, just the union for actors that
Speaker 1: you have to be a member of in order to
Speaker 1: you know, collect your residuals and have your health insurance
Speaker 1: and all that exactly and get paid eighty bucks instead
Speaker 1: of forty bucks. Exactly, that's an extra and um, he said, okay,
Speaker 1: you want to get into he he like she he
Speaker 1: was heard. We were all like trying hard to get
Speaker 1: into SACK. We need our like last voucher. He was, okay,
Speaker 1: you have lines. You're gonna have lines. He gave us
Speaker 1: nurse lines. Marlon Brando out of nowhere, just gives her lines.
Speaker 1: So we shoot. I go home. Um, I get a
Speaker 1: call like two days later, they really need you on
Speaker 1: set don Wanda Market. They have to do a reshoot
Speaker 1: or whatever. I rushed up to the set. I get
Speaker 1: there and I was non union and I needed one
Speaker 1: more voucher and I'd waited a whole year. I didn't
Speaker 1: get my third voucher. And she signs signs of vouchers
Speaker 1: handsome to me and she said, go home, you're done
Speaker 1: for the day. And said, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: She goes, welcome to SAG. I said, what do you?
Speaker 1: I said, this is Sag Belcher because yeah, somebody up
Speaker 1: there likes you, somebody, somebody really big is really looking
Speaker 1: out for you. I said, I'm like, are you telling me?
Speaker 1: Marlon Brando one got me into SAG And She's like
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that goodbye. I walked away. Random got
Speaker 1: you into SAG. I think you know who knows like
Speaker 1: And I heard from a couple other people that that's
Speaker 1: what they heard, the same thing, because either Marlon or
Speaker 1: Johnny or somebody they were they're really cool and you know,
Speaker 1: And I got into SAD. I got to stay on
Speaker 1: boy Meats World, so I had a regular gig because
Speaker 1: normally when you got into SAG is an extra, your
Speaker 1: jobs just went down because you could, you know, because
Speaker 1: the first I don't want to pay you the extra money. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because only the first certain number of people on a
Speaker 1: SAG TV show or move or extras have to be SAG,
Speaker 1: and everybody above that number could be non union. So
Speaker 1: in a crowd scene, there's forty S people in a
Speaker 1: thousand non union people. So did you stay in the
Speaker 1: entertainment industry? Do you still work in the entertainment industry? Now?
Speaker 1: I do, Well, I have a regular job. I'm a
Speaker 1: buyer for a medical company, but for um So. I
Speaker 1: had a daughter, so eventually had a quit, quit extra work,
Speaker 1: and but I worked on about three hundred things, and
Speaker 1: then I started to move into local commercials. And then
Speaker 1: I started writing, and I said, if if no one's
Speaker 1: gonna put me in anything, I'll put myself in something.
Speaker 1: So I started writing and directing indie movies. So I
Speaker 1: directed a movie called It Suck a Jones, which is
Speaker 1: a like a black exploitation movie. So here's something really interesting.
Speaker 1: When I first started, when I was cast on the
Speaker 1: show and I shot my first episode A couple episodes
Speaker 1: before that was the episode called Who's Afraid of Corey Wolf? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And the Halloween one right yeah, And there's a small
Speaker 1: theme in about how he thinks he has to kill
Speaker 1: Topanga to like become a full fledged werewolf or something.
Speaker 1: And I took that colonel with an idea, and that's
Speaker 1: the plot of the first movie I made, blood Suck
Speaker 1: at Jones, But it was about a vampire making um,
Speaker 1: becoming a full fledge vampire. He has to kill his
Speaker 1: first love. So we made that, we got into vessels,
Speaker 1: that did pretty good, and then we made a sequel,
Speaker 1: blood Suck at Jones Versus A Creeping Death. Where can
Speaker 1: we find these movies? Where can everyone find your stuff?
Speaker 1: So they're both on Amazon and you can get um
Speaker 1: but you can you can rent them on Amazon. Can
Speaker 1: rent them on Amazon Prime. We used to be there
Speaker 1: for free, but now it's only for anial, but we're
Speaker 1: rereleasing it to put it on a lot of platforms.
Speaker 1: And then I just finished our biggest movie. It's called
Speaker 1: Zanna Do hell Fire and I love these titles, thanks Matt.
Speaker 1: And I wrote it for my daughter, like I was
Speaker 1: a single dad, so I wanted to write a movie
Speaker 1: about a single dad. So it's about a nine year
Speaker 1: old girl who brings her comic book character from the
Speaker 1: future to the present just to hang out, and her
Speaker 1: evil sister follows and all hell breaks loose. That's so cool.
Speaker 1: I want to watch that. And okay, well here's another
Speaker 1: little tidbit. I was gonna make it Union, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to cast you in it as the single dad.
Speaker 1: And then I didn't have enough money, um to make
Speaker 1: it Union, so I didn't. I never ended up contacting you,
Speaker 1: but that My plan was always to get all of
Speaker 1: you in a movie one day. That would be like
Speaker 1: maybe we could do blood Sucker Jones three totally many scripts,
Speaker 1: so but that's still my dream and I hope to
Speaker 1: do that one day for sure. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for being here with us and telling us about your
Speaker 1: life now and your experiences as a background actor. It
Speaker 1: really means a lot to us, so thanks so much.
Speaker 1: This podcast is incredible, like hearing all hearing your feelings
Speaker 1: about how you thought you were going to be fired
Speaker 1: and and then I thought I didn't get invited back,
Speaker 1: and then I found out the next week it was
Speaker 1: like an off day, off week. Well, thank you again, Justin.
Speaker 1: This has been a real, a real pleasure. So thank
Speaker 1: you for being here with us. We wish you the
Speaker 1: best and we can't wait to reconnect on our our
Speaker 1: movie set. I'm sure, I'm ut, please please, thank you, Justin. Jason,
Speaker 1: how are you doing. I'm well, it's great you guys.
Speaker 1: I to see you. Or you were a background actor
Speaker 1: in season three. Tell us a little bit about some
Speaker 1: of the episodes you were a part of, and like,
Speaker 1: what is your favorite memory from being a background actor
Speaker 1: on Boy Meets World. The only episode I really remember
Speaker 1: vividly was there was a scene in the I want
Speaker 1: to say it was in the lunch room or maybe
Speaker 1: in that um that hangout place that that you guys
Speaker 1: always went to, and uh, Corey uh was being bullied
Speaker 1: by this guy and they brought in this like really
Speaker 1: really really tall, good looking, like Nordic cooking kid, and
Speaker 1: there was always there was a big height differential, which
Speaker 1: was very funny. But they made it even funnier because
Speaker 1: they had this guy who was already quite a bit
Speaker 1: taller than Ben stand on an apple box like watching
Speaker 1: that as like I want to be actor, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to start my career and just watching the decisions
Speaker 1: being made on the fly, and I thought that was
Speaker 1: so cool. So how were you were you eighteen playing younger?
Speaker 1: I was twenty three. Wow, okay, if you were in
Speaker 1: Chubby's you could really be any age. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because you guys were in high school by the time
Speaker 1: amazon on the show. I don't think I could. If
Speaker 1: you get started, yeah, uh doing background work or just
Speaker 1: in the in the business and you know in general.
Speaker 1: Um I had well, I had just moved to l
Speaker 1: A when I was doing extra works, so so I
Speaker 1: moved here in so I was on the show nine six,
Speaker 1: So I didn't know anyone here. I didn't have any friends,
Speaker 1: and I had heard that oh if you could go
Speaker 1: do background work and goes sign up and you know,
Speaker 1: so that's how I paid my bills sort of. The
Speaker 1: first here here. Where'd you move from Pennsylvania? Oh? Nice,
Speaker 1: outside of Allentown. You know the Billy Joels song. That's
Speaker 1: of course I know Pennsylvania. Well, both my brothers went
Speaker 1: to school in Pennsylvania. Okay, so that's very cool. Now,
Speaker 1: what made you come out here? What made you come
Speaker 1: out to Los Angeles? Was it just the bug to
Speaker 1: be an actor? It was a little bit of that.
Speaker 1: It was there was a really really big snowstorm. So
Speaker 1: I used to work in radio, and the station I
Speaker 1: worked at back in Allentown, we were known for the
Speaker 1: school closings, like back before the internet. He would do
Speaker 1: the school closing the best form on the radio. So
Speaker 1: I I worked overnight, So I would stay overnight, uh
Speaker 1: and do my shift, and then in the morning I
Speaker 1: would have to stay and help the morning show take
Speaker 1: the calls. So I remember driving home after being completely
Speaker 1: sleep deprived in this blizzard, and I got home, I'm like,
Speaker 1: why why am I here? Why? It's terrible. Yeah. For
Speaker 1: for Jason, just very quickly, for Writer and Danielle, the
Speaker 1: two West Coast kids. So when we were East Coast
Speaker 1: kids growing up, you would wake up on a day
Speaker 1: when there was snow on the ground and you would
Speaker 1: put on the radio and you would wait for your
Speaker 1: school to be called, and then they tell you if
Speaker 1: you were delayed or if you're if you had a
Speaker 1: snow day and it was canceled. It was the best.
Speaker 1: So I don't think you had that out here on
Speaker 1: the West coast, did you in the mountains and the
Speaker 1: mountain towns, But but you would. You'd sit there and
Speaker 1: you'd wait. It would say like, and the Avon Public
Speaker 1: schools are and if if it was a good dj,
Speaker 1: they would pause because they would either be are open
Speaker 1: and running normally and you go, or in which case
Speaker 1: the horse and buggy couldn't get you to school, right exactly,
Speaker 1: you couldn't get We had slaves, weren'tive, but that's what
Speaker 1: it was. It would be and they'd be like Avon
Speaker 1: Public schools are closed today, and you'd be like, yes,
Speaker 1: not thinking that. Of course, then you had to do
Speaker 1: an extra day in the summer because they just tack
Speaker 1: it on because yeah, but it was you just have
Speaker 1: a day off where you'd go sledding or you would
Speaker 1: place noball you It was the greatest thing in the world.
Speaker 1: So it's something that is just Jason and I know
Speaker 1: what this is. But if you did not grow up
Speaker 1: in that, you didn't you didn't know. So yeah, it's
Speaker 1: totally cool, Jason. Were you a background actor on any
Speaker 1: other shows? Yeah? I was on Friends a couple of times. Actually,
Speaker 1: Like you can see me really well because it was
Speaker 1: like the season two premier, like when the show was
Speaker 1: just like absolutely white hot, at the top of the zeitgeist,
Speaker 1: and it's like, great, Ross gets off the plane with Julie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Rachel does this like pratfall on the airport over the furniture.
Speaker 1: I'm right there addressed as a limo driver. How fun.
Speaker 1: I have to watch that again. And uh, I got
Speaker 1: my sag card on Executive Decision, which was a movie
Speaker 1: with Steven Seagal and Kurk Russell, John Leguizamo, everybody jumping
Speaker 1: on the airplane. Yes, beat Wong Pump wasn't. Yes, it was. Yes,
Speaker 1: it was a great I love the title because that
Speaker 1: sounds exactly like a Steven Seagal movie. There's like a
Speaker 1: hard to kill exec about Executive Decision and not it's
Speaker 1: a spoiler alert, but it's from Seagal's only in like
Speaker 1: the first fifteen minutes and then it's killed off. It's
Speaker 1: a straight up Kurt Russell. Uh. Yeah, it's a great movie.
Speaker 1: It's a great movie. I think we should explain to
Speaker 1: everybody why having your SAG card is so important, because
Speaker 1: it's now come up a couple of times, um and so,
Speaker 1: as writer mentioned, SAG stands for the Screen Actors Guild,
Speaker 1: and you it's it's joining SAG is a little bit
Speaker 1: of a catch twenty two because you cannot have a
Speaker 1: speaking role in television or a movie until you are
Speaker 1: a member of ZAG. But you can't become a member
Speaker 1: of ZAG until you have a speaking part. So we
Speaker 1: can do one, right, you can do one, and then
Speaker 1: you do you get something that's called heart lead. You
Speaker 1: get your voucher. Yes, so top being taft heart lead
Speaker 1: in means I think actually you get the option to
Speaker 1: join right away. You can get yeah, and but there
Speaker 1: are other ways to earn your SAG, like you get
Speaker 1: like three SAG vouchers, right, and that what it used
Speaker 1: to be here a time limit. Can you just get three? Okay?
Speaker 1: Just three? Yeah? When I was doing it because STAG
Speaker 1: and after we're separate unions at the time, So win SAG,
Speaker 1: you you would get three vouchers doing background work because
Speaker 1: they would have a certain allotment of union background actors
Speaker 1: they would have to use, and then a certain allotment
Speaker 1: of non union. So if you worked on the show
Speaker 1: as a non union you wouldn't at a voucher. But
Speaker 1: sometimes there was a slot they would open up, somebody
Speaker 1: didn't show up and you would get bumped up and
Speaker 1: you would get to use the union voucher for the day. Wow, Wow,
Speaker 1: that's so cool. Yeah. So I got into SAG because
Speaker 1: I did. I was a member of Equity, which is
Speaker 1: the theater union. And I don't know if this is
Speaker 1: still the case, but back then if you were a
Speaker 1: member of Equity, after you were in Equity for a year,
Speaker 1: you could get you were eligible for SAD. I think
Speaker 1: just by being in Lame as Rob as a kid,
Speaker 1: I then became eligible for SEX So I never had
Speaker 1: to do like the voucher at half Heartley thing. I
Speaker 1: just you know, I think I did the same thing.
Speaker 1: I think well, after being in the Harvard Stage, I
Speaker 1: was in Equity and then I was able to join SADE.
Speaker 1: What year did you join SAG? Writer? Do you remember
Speaker 1: nineteen nine? Daniel Jason ninety s five? See that's the
Speaker 1: thing most actors, because it's a very big deal as
Speaker 1: an actor to get your SAG card. It still says
Speaker 1: when you joined too on the card, right, but you
Speaker 1: don't need to look at it. Most actors, you ask
Speaker 1: them like, when did you join SAG, and they can instantly.
Speaker 1: I was eighty nine, like I'll always remember, but now
Speaker 1: I remember. There used to be a screen Extras guild,
Speaker 1: remember that, I think pre like, it wasn't until the
Speaker 1: mid nineties that the two guilds merged. It used to
Speaker 1: be that if you were an extra, you you were
Speaker 1: in a separate union. And then and then it became
Speaker 1: all under SAG, and that was a big deal because
Speaker 1: that's that's how then you could become a SAG member
Speaker 1: by doing background work. Before that, you couldn't even do
Speaker 1: it by doing background work. Yeah, yeah, I do remember that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: background work didn't used to count. And once you're a
Speaker 1: member of SAG you get health insurance as well, So
Speaker 1: there's there's again, it's a it's a a double edged sword.
Speaker 1: Joining SAG means you pay dudes, So you have to
Speaker 1: pay kind of a lot of money every year in
Speaker 1: order to stay in SAG. You also have to earn
Speaker 1: a certain amount of money every year to stay in SAG,
Speaker 1: and there are like two levels of earnings, like you
Speaker 1: know whether you're going to be in Plan A or
Speaker 1: Plan B, and Plan A is the better insured rents,
Speaker 1: but it means you also have to be earning a
Speaker 1: significantly large portion of money a year. That's gone. Now.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's Plan A Plan B anymore. I
Speaker 1: think there's just one plan that's not as good as
Speaker 1: Plan A and not as bad as Plan B. I
Speaker 1: think they kind of went in the middle and now
Speaker 1: it's one and some people were happy with that and
Speaker 1: some people where. There's been a lot of changes at SAG,
Speaker 1: and some of them haven't been great. But so, Jason,
Speaker 1: do you still work in the entertainment industry and what
Speaker 1: are you doing now? Now? I'm managing a tour company
Speaker 1: called Bikes and Hikes l A. But I am still
Speaker 1: in entertainment a little bit. I host my own podcast
Speaker 1: called a Lifetime of Hallmark, where we review and kind
Speaker 1: of pick apart Lifetime and Hallmark movies and they're so
Speaker 1: very like earnest and wholesome or they are just murdering
Speaker 1: sex four and seven. I write, I'm trying to get
Speaker 1: more into hiking. Is your company? Is it like cool
Speaker 1: hikes around l A? Is that what you guys? Know?
Speaker 1: We we cater to tourists from around the world, so
Speaker 1: that we do biking tours and do three daily bike
Speaker 1: tours of l A. Ones of thirty two mile one
Speaker 1: that goes out to the back, that we do shorter
Speaker 1: ones in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and then we do
Speaker 1: hikes to the front and back of the Hollywood Sign
Speaker 1: And that's cool. Arc. Yeah, I might have to join
Speaker 1: you for the one to the Hollywood Sign. I've never
Speaker 1: all the years I've been here, thirty so many years,
Speaker 1: I've never done a hike to the Hollywood Sign. And
Speaker 1: it's something, Yeah, come on, all right, let's do it. Oh,
Speaker 1: we should all go. We should totally do that. That
Speaker 1: would be really cool. Does it ever come up in
Speaker 1: your life that you were a background actor on Boy
Speaker 1: Meat's World. Yeah, because I I have a lot of
Speaker 1: friends that watched it growing up in somes It'll come
Speaker 1: up in conversation. I'll tell them and they're like, what,
Speaker 1: what what? And now, So I live in West Hollywood
Speaker 1: and just that I'm sure people have heard in the
Speaker 1: news that Ben is running for a city council was Hollywood.
Speaker 1: I in my I've lived in we have for fifteen years.
Speaker 1: I've never once seen him out. I have run in
Speaker 1: Ben ten times in the past month. Ten That's so funny.
Speaker 1: Have you have you talk to him when you've seen
Speaker 1: him out of you The first time I saw him,
Speaker 1: it was right after I found out I was gonna
Speaker 1: be on with you guys, and so I just went
Speaker 1: up to I was like, Ben, Hi, I'm a resident here.
Speaker 1: We hope it also is on Boy Meets World. And
Speaker 1: we just had like a twenty minute conversation. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: So he knew you were a background actor. You didn't
Speaker 1: remember me, but now when he sees me, he recognizes
Speaker 1: me and like makes a point of staying hi. That's
Speaker 1: so cool. That's cool. Good. I'm happy to hear that. Well. Jason,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for being here with us. It
Speaker 1: was really fun to catch up with you. And I
Speaker 1: think we'll take you up on that offer to go
Speaker 1: on a hike to the Hollywood Sign because I have
Speaker 1: ever done it right. What was what was the name
Speaker 1: of the podcast One More Time A Lifetime of Hallmark.
Speaker 1: I checked that out perfect. Yes, well, thank you for
Speaker 1: being here with us. Yeah, alright, by I want to
Speaker 1: do I've wanted to do that Hollywood hike because it's
Speaker 1: just such an iconic thing going and actually seeing the
Speaker 1: Hollywood Sign, which you see it, you drive by, and
Speaker 1: you just get everybody gets at wherever they live. They
Speaker 1: get so complacent about where they live that they don't
Speaker 1: do the things that you're do. Yeah, and I show
Speaker 1: them the joy of of the town or city that
Speaker 1: they live in. So that nightmare, Like the roads up
Speaker 1: to the Hollywood Sign are like so congested, like the
Speaker 1: local residents hate it so much because and there's probably
Speaker 1: no place to park, and it's off exactly trying to
Speaker 1: make it hard. Yeah, because people live up there, you know.
Speaker 1: But I'm surprised you didn't. It's like that's how I
Speaker 1: knew I was at a rider house. It was like, well,
Speaker 1: I can't the streets are they're turning everywhere, and I
Speaker 1: can't actually park, so hey, I must be at the
Speaker 1: rider's house. It's just a scant thirteen miles from where
Speaker 1: I had to park my car. That's gonna be nice, man.
Speaker 1: I like, you know, I like to be around trees.
Speaker 1: I like to be so that means being a little
Speaker 1: off the beaten path. My place now is right off
Speaker 1: a big, big road. No, no no, no, your place now
Speaker 1: has decent parking. But the other ones, it was like,
Speaker 1: are you I'd have to call you and be like,
Speaker 1: I'm acclimatizing for the night. I'll see you in the morning.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that is I once my car got
Speaker 1: stuck hanging off a cliff outside of Writer right at night.
Speaker 1: That's right. We have a cold sitting on the curb,
Speaker 1: acting down and it was really curved. It was a terrible,
Speaker 1: terrible thing, and I can don't see, and it was dark,
Speaker 1: and I turned my wheel and I like went, literally
Speaker 1: my car was dangling off. That's right. I forgot. Did
Speaker 1: it rip off the front of your car? Too? And
Speaker 1: we know nothing, nothing like that happened. I just couldn't
Speaker 1: get the wheel back up onto the thing. So the
Speaker 1: tow truck just had to basically bring my car down.
Speaker 1: Just started driving tow trucks to Rider's house. It was
Speaker 1: just easier that way, say a lot safer. That was
Speaker 1: one of our boy Beats World dinners that we had.
Speaker 1: Remember we sent one of our boy Meats World dinners.
Speaker 1: It was really fun. Well, I'd love to introduce our
Speaker 1: next guests. Her name is Jessica Biboh. I hope I
Speaker 1: said that right, Jessica. Um. She was one of the
Speaker 1: background actors that Genie are very first guest. Jennie had
Speaker 1: friends that she would bring in as being other background actors,
Speaker 1: and Jessica was one of those people. Hi are you.
Speaker 1: Jessica was one of the background actor actors in the
Speaker 1: famous Danielle to Penga cutting her hair episode Hair Today,
Speaker 1: Gone Tomorrow. And so you're actually in the bathroom scene
Speaker 1: with me, right, yes? Yeah, it was my first time
Speaker 1: ever being on the show too. That was the first episode. Yes,
Speaker 1: and I remember they picked me, I think because I
Speaker 1: have obviously big hair. So yeah, so the lady picked
Speaker 1: me and I was like, oh my gosh, like I've
Speaker 1: never even been here before, I've done this. So I
Speaker 1: and my friend Genie was like, She's like, you got
Speaker 1: featureded whatever for three years and so what happened? So
Speaker 1: was it de de de Stefano who picked you out?
Speaker 1: It was, yeah, she picked me In another UM extra
Speaker 1: I called Wendy okay, and it was the three of
Speaker 1: us and I made me and Wendy him and I.
Speaker 1: I think it was it was such a fun experience.
Speaker 1: I was so nervous the first day and it just
Speaker 1: it was just so much fun to be in that episode,
Speaker 1: especially because it was such a big hit. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you're so featured in the in the bathroom at the
Speaker 1: sink right there, So, um, what do you really like
Speaker 1: remember about that day? I remember I remember you actually, Um,
Speaker 1: I was so nervous for you because you had to
Speaker 1: cut your hair on camera and I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, this is like I was so nervous for
Speaker 1: you and like you had to get it in the
Speaker 1: So I really remember that. And I just remember thinking
Speaker 1: like being nervous for you, and and just I thought
Speaker 1: it was it was just so fun because it was
Speaker 1: really my first time on a set, and so the
Speaker 1: whole thing like it looked smaller than I thought it would.
Speaker 1: You know how everyone always it's totally true. It is true.
Speaker 1: I guess it's just something about when you actually see
Speaker 1: the limits of the set, you're like, oh, well that's
Speaker 1: all it is. I'm like it's shorter, and like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, like there was there. I had like this
Speaker 1: perception of what it would be and then it was different,
Speaker 1: So I remember that. And then um, I also remember
Speaker 1: I got to get my makeup done, so that was
Speaker 1: super exciting. And because I was featured, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I get to get my I did. I'm like, you
Speaker 1: don't bother with the hair. No one's gonna know how
Speaker 1: to do it, not my hair, but I did. So.
Speaker 1: The other actor that was featured with you, Wendy. Had
Speaker 1: you ever met her before? Did you know her at all?
Speaker 1: I didn't, but my my best friend Genie was friends
Speaker 1: with her. They worked together every week and so we
Speaker 1: connected immediately. We're still friends to this day because I
Speaker 1: think Jennie was talking about Wendy. Yeah, we're all still friends,
Speaker 1: and I, you know, I met her that one time.
Speaker 1: I live in Orange County too, so I don't see her,
Speaker 1: but um, we're still connected just because of that one
Speaker 1: day and we still like reminisce about it. He was
Speaker 1: like so excited to be chosen too. So are you
Speaker 1: are you a mission Viejo as well? I am, yeah,
Speaker 1: but you're also not a Diablo. You were a cougar exactly. Okay,
Speaker 1: how did you know that? Because we talked to We
Speaker 1: talked to Jeannie and my wife is a Diablo, so
Speaker 1: so my kids are going to be Diablos. Okay there
Speaker 1: you go, alright, and my my uncle and my mom
Speaker 1: and like, yeah, but there's a lot of mission video
Speaker 1: history in this. There is why we were. My My
Speaker 1: wife lived off a spartan right right across from anton
Speaker 1: Across from Antonuci is Antonucci still there, like the greatest
Speaker 1: Italian restaurant. Yeah, it's totally that I used to go.
Speaker 1: They're growing up with my grandfather. I'm Italian, so that
Speaker 1: was like his spots. Yeah. Sorry, little little mission Viejo.
Speaker 1: So it's for my wife. Shout out to my wife.
Speaker 1: Can I ask you a question? Had you heard of
Speaker 1: boy Mets World or seen Boy's World before you came
Speaker 1: on the show. I had heard of it, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I was. I was older at the time, so I was.
Speaker 1: I don't think I had seen it. I had seen
Speaker 1: it maybe on TV. But the funny thing is, because
Speaker 1: I was in college age. The day after the show
Speaker 1: aired and I went to school, everybody came up to me,
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you, I saw you on TV. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, And I was like, oh wow, like so
Speaker 1: many college people, college age people were watching the show, boys, girls, everything.
Speaker 1: So I was like, that's so cool. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: at first I knew about the show was such a
Speaker 1: big hid Do you ever tell people about it now?
Speaker 1: Do you have children? Do they know about your past
Speaker 1: as a background actor? My kids like think it's so
Speaker 1: fun because I showed him the picture of the three
Speaker 1: of us at the bathroom. Um, they think it's very cool.
Speaker 1: They know I'm doing this. They can't wait to hear
Speaker 1: about it. Um, And yeah. I still I have so
Speaker 1: many friends who are like, I can't believe that that
Speaker 1: was you. They knew the episode, They're like, so they
Speaker 1: think it's amazing that I was. I like, not, I
Speaker 1: was not the actor, but like they think it's like
Speaker 1: the coolest thing. So, yeah, it does. It still comes up.
Speaker 1: It's so funny. Now you remember being nervous for me?
Speaker 1: Do you remember? Did I seem nervous? I think you,
Speaker 1: If anything, you you were very focused and concentrated and
Speaker 1: maybe a little stressed. Yeah, I mean I don't know.
Speaker 1: That was my feeling. It was an incredibly stressful day.
Speaker 1: I remember it. I remember it set was on edge.
Speaker 1: We were all like, it was not a fun It's
Speaker 1: I have to say, like I do not have fond
Speaker 1: memories of it. I have like I get like not
Speaker 1: in my stomach when I think about that day on set. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think people also thought you were gonna cut your hair. Sure,
Speaker 1: I thought you're gonna cut your hair shorter than you did.
Speaker 1: So when you actually cut it, I was like okay,
Speaker 1: Like it was like more of like a like a relaxed,
Speaker 1: relaxed moment for me, because I thought you were going
Speaker 1: to go like up, like bobbing it up. So seeing
Speaker 1: that you lifted it up and cut it, I was
Speaker 1: like okay. I was like that that. I was given
Speaker 1: very specific instructions about where I was allowed to cut,
Speaker 1: and you know, it was it was a very stressful day.
Speaker 1: And Michael came out and said, you know, okay, show
Speaker 1: me where, show me where, and I was like like
Speaker 1: right here, and he was like lower and I was
Speaker 1: like no, because I wanted to go a little shorter.
Speaker 1: And Michael really had a off that he he really
Speaker 1: wanted me to do it. Um. Now I have a question.
Speaker 1: Has anybody asked you because you're holding the scissors at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you get to decide where
Speaker 1: the cut happens. Did you ever think even for a
Speaker 1: moment about cutting it in a different spot than people
Speaker 1: told you to. Well, not really, mostly because I didn't
Speaker 1: want to screw anything up for the one take we
Speaker 1: have on camera. And it was like things were very set,
Speaker 1: you know, we had we only had a certain amount
Speaker 1: of time we had we could rehearse it and and
Speaker 1: then you get the one take with the scissors. But
Speaker 1: it also was a little like the way she cut it,
Speaker 1: she meaning me, the way I cut my hair. I
Speaker 1: just swung my hair around and then grabbed it and
Speaker 1: cut it. Wasn't like so I knew there was a
Speaker 1: margin of error that was kind of out of my control.
Speaker 1: But I definitely didn't want to do anything that was
Speaker 1: going to make anybody mad at me. And I also
Speaker 1: knew that I needed to cut it in a place
Speaker 1: where there was still room for then when I got
Speaker 1: a real haircut where that could still it was still
Speaker 1: going to get shorter from that wherever I cut it,
Speaker 1: because I was going to cut a blunt cut and
Speaker 1: then you know, LORI was gonna put layer in it
Speaker 1: and stuff. So I knew it was going to end
Speaker 1: up being a little shorter than wherever I cut it.
Speaker 1: So I also didn't want my hair to be too short.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that was a really stressful. Remember the rehearsing
Speaker 1: and blocking of that scene where then Jeff McCracken would
Speaker 1: yell before we got to it because they wanted to
Speaker 1: make sure we got the scene all the way up
Speaker 1: until the point of the cut perfectly. And yeah, I
Speaker 1: remember being like, you can say stop in a normal voice,
Speaker 1: and I'm not because Jeff as an actor, Jeff took on.
Speaker 1: Do you remember watching his face when he faces of
Speaker 1: the emotions of the actor on the scene he was
Speaker 1: on the set with, which made him totally find myself
Speaker 1: doing that. Do you do that, Danielle and you're watching
Speaker 1: the monitor. I totally do it too. I'm constant. I'm
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm as exaggerated as Jeff, but I'm
Speaker 1: definitely like putting myself through whatever the act is doing.
Speaker 1: When I'm directing, it's so yeah, yeah, that's what makes
Speaker 1: I also do it, even with hair in the face.
Speaker 1: Like I was watching you know, I just directed a movie.
Speaker 1: I was telling you about it and I'm camera. There
Speaker 1: was a piece of hair in one of the actor's
Speaker 1: face and I was like, I was like, and it
Speaker 1: was like Okay, that's not gonna work. Yeah, so I
Speaker 1: think we we all got that from from Jeff. Jeff,
Speaker 1: are you still in the business. So I did like
Speaker 1: a couple more things after your show, um, like you know,
Speaker 1: very little things, and then I ended up going into
Speaker 1: the skincare business. So I became an esthetician. I have
Speaker 1: my own skincare line now called Skincare, and that's what
Speaker 1: I've been doing literally since, like I was twunny, simply,
Speaker 1: what's your website skin care? Yeah? Do you a website? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's just simply just skincare dot com. It's all natural.
Speaker 1: It's out of Orange County, so it's doing really well.
Speaker 1: It's it's amazing. I should send you something, yes, please, yes,
Speaker 1: we we will all take it. Awesome, you guys, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It works really well. I need it because we were
Speaker 1: talking about how I washed my entire body with head
Speaker 1: and shoulders? Was that in this episode? I can't remember
Speaker 1: at this so I need some sort of skincare regime
Speaker 1: because the one apparently isn't good. It's simple, like, it's great,
Speaker 1: it's okay, perfect. I don't have dandriff on my face?
Speaker 1: Do I write her? Do I? I don't know. Well,
Speaker 1: Jessica was really nice to reconnect with you. Thank you
Speaker 1: for being here with us. I'm I'm so glad you're
Speaker 1: in that iconic scene and set with me. We have
Speaker 1: this adorable picture of the three of us that I'll
Speaker 1: put on and put on the Instagram and thank you
Speaker 1: for being here with us. I love it. It It was
Speaker 1: so good talking to you guys. Thank you for having
Speaker 1: me as well. Thanks for joining us. It's so fun.
Speaker 1: She's so sweet, so sweet, and so many background actors
Speaker 1: from Orange County, Orange County, which makes perfect sense. I
Speaker 1: guess for people who aren't out here, that's that can
Speaker 1: be a hike. I mean, I'm from Orange County. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's at the very I mean, with great traffic,
Speaker 1: it's still at least an hour. Oh yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: now with with traffic. Without traffic, it's an hour and
Speaker 1: twenty minutes, and with traffic you're looking at two hours plus.
Speaker 1: It makes the question why not kids in Los Angeles?
Speaker 1: Like why didn't why didn't teenagers in Los Angeles become
Speaker 1: background Maybe because they kind of grew up around the
Speaker 1: industry and it just took about it. And yeah, and
Speaker 1: whereas like in the Orange County. You'd be like, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's right over there, and I can get these jobs.
Speaker 1: That's interesting. Maybe I don't know, but it is. That's
Speaker 1: and then they all seem the other thing that's very
Speaker 1: interesting so far. And we didn't ask Jessica, Well, she
Speaker 1: kind of tell this this, but it doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: you kind of were on the circuit where it's you
Speaker 1: did nine O two and no, you did Step by Step,
Speaker 1: you did, you did, It's like you had you did
Speaker 1: Party of Five. There are certain shows that you did
Speaker 1: everywhere interesting. Well, our next guest is a woman named
Speaker 1: Melody Morrero, and she was a background actor in seasons
Speaker 1: two and three, but then she was featured in season two,
Speaker 1: episode twelve called Turnaround, and she was given a name Jacqueline.
Speaker 1: So I can't wait to hear about how that happened
Speaker 1: and who Jack Glenn was. Hi, Oh my gosh, it
Speaker 1: is so cool to see you guys. It's been almost
Speaker 1: thirty years. Yeah, we're just it's been eight years. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: A few years. It's so good to see you. So,
Speaker 1: you were a background actor in seasons two and three,
Speaker 1: but then you were featured as Jacqueline in an episode
Speaker 1: so how did that come about? I was, Oh, my gosh,
Speaker 1: I was so over the moon that day. They said, okay,
Speaker 1: we've seen you around, said a lot. You were the
Speaker 1: Um I was the waitress at Chubbies a few times,
Speaker 1: and um, I don't know, it's just happenstance. I was
Speaker 1: just trying not to stick out too much. But when
Speaker 1: one of the producers came up, I think I forget
Speaker 1: her name. The one of the assistant producers said we
Speaker 1: have a spot for you. Just come come with us now,
Speaker 1: and so I was like, okay, whatever you, whatever you say,
Speaker 1: and then had me walk with with Eric. So, oh, really,
Speaker 1: wasn't the two of us together? Is that why I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the picture I have. I have a phone
Speaker 1: know of us together. It's so great. So where we dad?
Speaker 1: Where we were Eric and Jacqueline dating at the time?
Speaker 1: Is it? Yeah, we were totally a thing. Did you
Speaker 1: write a whole backstory? Is there a history there, scripted
Speaker 1: idea about us dating or the Yeah, they didn't exactly
Speaker 1: go with that, but yeah, I just come around the
Speaker 1: corner of the lockers and Eric, you you walk up
Speaker 1: and say, hey, Jacqueline, I was just headed that way
Speaker 1: or something. Along those lines, and I was so geeked out.
Speaker 1: It was so much fun. Man, that's so cool. I'm surprised.
Speaker 1: That must have been the episode that they had Eric
Speaker 1: Girl Crazy that one episode. Yeah, no, I'm kidding. That
Speaker 1: was Eric's thing was so it was so great that
Speaker 1: we got a chance to do that. That's very cool.
Speaker 1: How did you become a background actor? UM? In college,
Speaker 1: one of my friends was telling me about she was
Speaker 1: going to a movie set the next day and I said,
Speaker 1: what are you What are you doing? And she said, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm an extra. And I was like, okay, no
Speaker 1: idea what that means. And she told me about what
Speaker 1: she was doing. And it was Central Casting at the time,
Speaker 1: and I was a young mom in college and I
Speaker 1: had a mouth to feed, and I'm like, this will
Speaker 1: be a cool way to make a little bit of
Speaker 1: extra cash. So I did it, and UM did a
Speaker 1: number of things, but we we Strolled happened to be
Speaker 1: absolutely my favorite, obviously, But I did it for two years,
Speaker 1: two and a half, yeah, three seasons almost, and I
Speaker 1: did an episode of Friends and Er and a lot
Speaker 1: of things. But yeah, first it was just a way
Speaker 1: to make some cash. And then I thought maybe I'll
Speaker 1: get bit by the acting bug, and that didn't exactly
Speaker 1: plan pan out that way, but yeah, that's how I
Speaker 1: kind of stumbled upon this. So do you still work
Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry? What do you do now? No,
Speaker 1: I'm in human resources. Yeah, yeah, I went from background
Speaker 1: acting to human resources. So yeah, I'm in a stark
Speaker 1: person for what company? For Toyota? Oh nice? Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1: It's a great gig. I'm about to celebrate twenty three
Speaker 1: years with Toyota. So but pretty much my my very
Speaker 1: last extra gig was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was
Speaker 1: hired by Toyota the next week, so I was like, cool,
Speaker 1: I guess I have a career. The acting thing is
Speaker 1: just not gonna help from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to
Speaker 1: the career you're going to do for the rest of
Speaker 1: your life. That's kind of cool. That's kind of cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: people like, what was your last job? I was like,
Speaker 1: a vampire slayer? What did you do? I'm looking at
Speaker 1: a picture you sent us of me and you and
Speaker 1: another one of our background actors and script am I doing?
Speaker 1: What earth is this pose? It's you're the only one
Speaker 1: who didn't realize that you weren't in a chorus line
Speaker 1: at the time. I daniel I don't know, but it
Speaker 1: was adorable and I loved it, and clearly I've treasured
Speaker 1: it for years. So I'm so glad you guys are
Speaker 1: in like matching Denham too. Yes, I complete recognize you,
Speaker 1: by the way, I totally recognize you. You do not,
Speaker 1: I swear to God. From the second I saw the picture,
Speaker 1: I completely recognize you because you did multiple episodes, and
Speaker 1: again we were around the same age, so we were
Speaker 1: always kind of together. You were in It wasn't like
Speaker 1: you were in the classroom scenes as a kid. Um
Speaker 1: we were. It was always kind of around Eric. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I recognized you from the second I saw the phone.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, Oh that just warms my heart. I
Speaker 1: wasn't sure if you guys would remember, but yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the picture. I'm like, oh, yeah, I totally
Speaker 1: remember you and being in the hallways with you with
Speaker 1: the lockers and all that stuff. Yeah, that picture. I
Speaker 1: think They made me change my shirt though, right after
Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, you both can't work down. So see
Speaker 1: they're like, Danielle's wearing denim, take it off. That's pretty
Speaker 1: much what would happen. I mean, I'll walk in with
Speaker 1: certain outfits and they'd be like, yeah, honey, that's not
Speaker 1: gonna work. So that's so. Were you in Los Angeles
Speaker 1: at the time we were you were doing the show? Yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: I lived near Pasadena, so just a quick quick ride
Speaker 1: on the four or five every day. Yeah, it was local.
Speaker 1: Now I'm going to ask you, but I have a
Speaker 1: feeling your favorite scene was probably when you were featured
Speaker 1: as Jacqueline with Will. But do you have any like
Speaker 1: other real specific memory of something that just really stands
Speaker 1: out from your time on Boy Meats World? I do
Speaker 1: that is definitely my favorite, but they're just a flashback
Speaker 1: to the fifties. You were in that episode two. I
Speaker 1: was in that one. I had a poodle skirt, the
Speaker 1: pony tails scarf um and we were at Chubby's in
Speaker 1: the scene that I was in. So that was one
Speaker 1: of my other favorites. Was just because I got to
Speaker 1: go through full like hair and makeup and wardrobe and stuff.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that wasn't really that was a fun costume. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so they provide did they provide the costume for you
Speaker 1: that time? You didn't have to bring your own. That's
Speaker 1: so cool. Yeah, it was cool. I was looking for
Speaker 1: it and I forgot the title of the episode, but yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a good one. Oh man, I can't wait
Speaker 1: till we get to those. I don't know. We did
Speaker 1: so many of the flashbacks to different times, but one
Speaker 1: was the was the was that the toaster one? I
Speaker 1: think there was the forties? I don't remember. We can't
Speaker 1: remember we did the forties? The forties? Was the cat
Speaker 1: that took us from the cat from Sabrina took us
Speaker 1: back in time from forties episode? I think it was
Speaker 1: the toaster. There's something that the coaster back to the fifties.
Speaker 1: That's when we're like most of the cast of Happy
Speaker 1: Days was on the episode. Right, I'm like, Shanza Belli
Speaker 1: or whatever. We're going to get a lot of I'll
Speaker 1: get a lot of emails telling us exactly how could happen?
Speaker 1: We should stop talking about it now. Yeah, that's so funny. Well, Melody,
Speaker 1: we thank you so much for being here with us,
Speaker 1: and thank you for being a part of Boy Meets
Speaker 1: World with us all that twenty plus years ago. A
Speaker 1: lot to us. Oh, thank you so much for including me.
Speaker 1: This was so much fun. I was so stoked when
Speaker 1: I got the email, so it's just so great to
Speaker 1: see you all again. It was so great to see
Speaker 1: you to is there is there anywhere if if people
Speaker 1: want to want to find you, could you Are you
Speaker 1: on social media or anything? Yeah? Yeah, Melody m M
Speaker 1: one three is my handle. I'm pretty sure I don't
Speaker 1: message myself a lot, so I forget. It's so funny.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Was great to see you, man.
Speaker 1: Everybody is so nice. I totally remember, especially when I
Speaker 1: saw the picture, Like at first I was kind of
Speaker 1: and then I completely remember because again, we had the
Speaker 1: extras were kind of extras. I don't like that connotation.
Speaker 1: The background actors were were carpet like compartmentalized. So it's
Speaker 1: you all had your kind of classroom extras, I said
Speaker 1: it again, which I was never really a part of. So,
Speaker 1: you know, like I got to meet Dusty and everybody else.
Speaker 1: But then as we grew up and Eric was more
Speaker 1: involved with other people around as opposed to just being
Speaker 1: in the school, there was a group of background actors
Speaker 1: where I was with a lot and Justin and Melody.
Speaker 1: These are all the kind of the same people that
Speaker 1: were around there, which is really neat, so I sort
Speaker 1: of buried this lead, but it actually didn't occur to
Speaker 1: me until we were already recording this episode. UM, but
Speaker 1: my one of my best friends, UM, one of my
Speaker 1: closest friends. He's coming over to my house for dinner tonight.
Speaker 1: He was going to bring this up. He was in
Speaker 1: my wedding party. I actually he was one of my
Speaker 1: group's been at my wedding. His name is Chris Levittis
Speaker 1: and he's a director from a writer director, and I
Speaker 1: met him because I was I acted in a movie
Speaker 1: that he directed in my twenties and that's when we
Speaker 1: became friends. But he was an extra on Boy Leats World,
Speaker 1: one of his first jobs as a kid, and it
Speaker 1: was when he was under age, I think because he
Speaker 1: was a kid actor, so he remember seeing his But I,
Speaker 1: you know, I talked him about it because I remember
Speaker 1: when we first talked about doing this episode. I was like, Oh,
Speaker 1: you should come on. He actually doesn't have many memories.
Speaker 1: I think he only did one or two episodes, but
Speaker 1: it was one of the first things he said to
Speaker 1: me when we started working either He's like, you know,
Speaker 1: we I was actually on your show back of this.
Speaker 1: So I've always been curious if I can see him
Speaker 1: in an episode, so as we do, our are it
Speaker 1: would probably be the second or third season, so I
Speaker 1: have to keep an eye out for him somewhere in
Speaker 1: the background of one of our episodes. Another one of
Speaker 1: our background actors was cal penn Real Yes really yes,
Speaker 1: in what he was in like a sports scene. Well,
Speaker 1: let's get him on our let's um, do you think
Speaker 1: the chances so, so we're watching a lot of alone
Speaker 1: right now, do you think the chances are that Dusty
Speaker 1: maybe lives a life off the grid, which is why
Speaker 1: he knows nothing about the podcast communing with the Bears? Yeah,
Speaker 1: like maybe we just Dusty has no idea because he's
Speaker 1: like skinning something right now, or you know, making a
Speaker 1: fire with sticks or pete. I don't know. I'm still
Speaker 1: I'm still determined. I'm still determined her Dusty for Dusty.
Speaker 1: So well, this was really a great way to wrap
Speaker 1: up our twenty three and Me episode. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much to twenty three and Me for helping us get
Speaker 1: to know our backgrounds both personally and from from boy
Speaker 1: Meat's world. It was really a really smart way of
Speaker 1: bringing this all together. And like I said, I am
Speaker 1: really excited now that I have a couple of wellness
Speaker 1: and health. Uh you know, some information about myself, but
Speaker 1: now I can take to my doctor and can hopefully
Speaker 1: change the decisions I make for my future knowing a
Speaker 1: few things. And so I encourage you to take the
Speaker 1: twenty three and me test as well and get to
Speaker 1: know your background and get to know a little bit
Speaker 1: more about your health and how you can help take
Speaker 1: care of yourself to prevent issues from coming up in
Speaker 1: the future. I also always figured I was a superhero,
Speaker 1: but to actually be told I am, it really changed
Speaker 1: the whole ball game for me. It really did. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty great to get that confirmation finally. So
Speaker 1: you can get your superhero confirmation at twenty three in
Speaker 1: me dot com. Thank you for joining us for pod
Speaker 1: Meats World I am. I don't know why I was
Speaker 1: doing our exit like I was gonna say my name again,
Speaker 1: like thank you for joining us. I'm Daniel. You just
Speaker 1: listen to a whole episode with me like you don't are.
Speaker 1: You can follow us on Instagram at pod Meats World Show,
Speaker 1: and you can also send us an email at pod
Speaker 1: Meats World Show at gmail dot com, and as always,
Speaker 1: we have merch March there was so subtle dot com
Speaker 1: March Baby. Sorry Pod meets World Show dot com. Thank
Speaker 1: you guys for being with us. We will see you
Speaker 1: next time. Will We love you all? Pod dismissed. Pod
Speaker 1: Meets World is an I heart podcast produced and hosted
Speaker 1: by Daniel Fishel Wilford, l and Ryder Strong Executive producers
Speaker 1: Jensen Carp and Amy Sugarman Executive in charge of production,
Speaker 1: Daniel Romo, producer and editor, Tara sup Buch producer, Jackie Rodriguez,
Speaker 1: engineer and Boy Meets World super fan Easton Allen. Our
Speaker 1: theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon and you
Speaker 1: can follow us on Instagram at Pod Meets World Show
Speaker 1: or email us at pod Meets World Show at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com